CDC says ‘nightmare bacteria’ a growing threat

Wednesday, 06 March 2013 12:07

Federal officials warned Tuesday that “nightmare bacteria” — including the deadly superbug that struck a National Institutes of Health facility two years ago — are increasingly resistant to even the strongest antibiotics, posing a growing threat to hospitals and nursing homes nationwide.

Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a news conference: “It’s not often that our scientists come to me and say we have a very serious problem and we need to sound an alarm. But that’s exactly what we are doing today.”

He called on doctors, hospital leaders and health officials to work together to stop the spread of the infections. “Our strongest antibiotics don’t work, and patients are left with potentially untreatable infections,” he said.

Although the bacteria, known as Carbapenen-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, haven’t spread to the wider community — like some other germs — they are more dangerous, said Frieden, who described them as a “triple threat.”